Public manager + Teaching | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/society/series/publicmanager+education/teaching
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Public servants seeking new skills have been abandonedhttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/may/01/public-servants-new-skills-abandoned
Instead of giving the dwindling workforce the required tools to tackle reform and cuts, our public servants are left to rely on searching the internet for help<p>Ronald Heifitz, the <a href="http://www.hks.harvard.edu/about/faculty-staff-directory/ronald-heifetz" title="">founder</a> of the centre for public leadership at Harvard Kennedy school, may have an interesting angle to offer on the state of play in the UK's public services. With major reforms under way of how services in Britain are meant to be delivered, combined with the deepest spending cuts since the 1950s, we have what Heifitz would call an &quot;<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfLLDvn0pI8" title="">adaptive challenge</a>&quot;. In short, we don't know quite how to deal with the scale and complexity of the problem faced and, as such, public servants have to work it out for ourselves. We have to learn new strategies and skills to adapt to an unforgiving and unfamiliar situation.</p><p><a href="http://insight.badenochandclark.com/spring-2012-workplace-study/" title="">New research</a> by recruitment consultants Badenoch &amp; Clark illustrates one way in which this challenge is being received. Its survey of 1,000 public sector workers found that 41.1% of workers must now learn the additional skills required to do their job from colleagues or by searching the internet. The strong DIY theme might be music to the ears of Heifitz, who thinks that solutions to adaptive problems should be generated not by the leaders but by those closely connected to the issues and in greatest need of the solution. And there is no doubt that those affected by the cuts need the greatest help. More than a quarter of the public sector workers surveyed are having to take on further roles, as jobs have disbanded and as team numbers reduce, and 20.8% are having to learn new skills as roles merge, or take on greater responsibility and enhance their skills (20.2%).</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/may/01/public-servants-new-skills-abandoned">Continue reading...</a>Public sector careersPublic sector cutsPublic services policyPublic financeNHSNursingDoctorsSocietySchoolsEducationTeachingCivil servicePoliticsTue, 01 May 2012 15:00:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/may/01/public-servants-new-skills-abandonedDenis Closon/Rex Features/Denis Closon/Rex FeaturesA gap in skills training means public service employees are increasingly left searching the internet for answers. Photograph: Denis Closon/Rex FeaturesDenis Closon/Rex Features/Denis Closon/Rex FeaturesA gap in skills training means public service employees are increasingly left searching the internet for answers. Photograph: Denis Closon/Rex FeaturesRobin Ryde2012-05-01T15:00:01Z